For centuries dessert cakes of European (and especially French) origin have been renowned for their quality, popularity, and general gastronomical excellence. The term “dessert cake” or “cake” (used interchangeably herein) is intended to embrace any sweetened, usually baked, composition of any size or shape, at least a portion (e.g., one or more layers) of which is typically made from flour, sugar/sweetener, liquid, and eggs, in addition to other possible ingredients such as flavorings and raising agents. Thus, for example, the term includes layered cakes, pastries, mousses (with or without flour), “gateaux”, tortes, and petit fours.
European cakes, though varied in taste and form, have generally been based in various combinations on the principal ingredients of cream, eggs, sugar, coffee, and chocolate (i.e., cocoa). While more subtle flavors (for e.g., vanilla, fruit, nuts, liqueurs) have been added and combined into European cakes, the selection of these flavors has still remained largely dictated and dominated by only traditional Western/European ingredients, influences, and culture.
On the other hand, outside the dessert realm, there has been a major proliferation of ethnic foods/ingredients and fusion cuisine (i.e., the blending of ingredients and food preparation techniques from different cultures) in Western and European culture. See, for example, “The Last Bite: No Quit to Ethnic Cuisines”, Prepared Foods (November 1999) and “An Emerging Market: As major companies enter the fray, the ethnic foods market continues to grow-both in number of consumers and in varieties of products”, Prepared Foods (October 2002). Indeed, food consumers are increasingly looking for new, different, and even revolutionary types of foods. See for example, “Far-out Forecasting and Wishful Thinking: Part 2”, Specialty Food Magazine (April 2003).
Since this vast and diverse growth in the food industry has to a considerable extent bypassed the dessert cake field, a very large gap in the dessert food industry has been left untapped, both from a commercial and a gastronomical perspective.